The INTENSIVE JOURNAL program for Prisoners at William Head Institute

Bill Israel continues to volunteer his professional expertise inside William Head Institution, a federal minimum security penitentiary on Vancouver Island.

Under the title of The FOUNDATIONS COURSE, the Intensive Journal program is offered to prisoners on a voluntary basis over a 12 week period for men preparing Personal Release Plans for presentation at their scheduled Parole Board hearings.

Since 2014, this innovative program has “graduated” more than 70 men. The focus of the private, non-analytic writing method for prisoners, many of whom are classified as LIFERS by Correctional Services Canada, is on behavioral rehabilitation and recovery from the effects of trauma.

This past May, Bill presented at the 5th Biennial Alberta Criminal Justice Symposium in Edmonton, Alberta. The symposium was sponsored by McEwan University and focused on “Innovations in the field of criminal justice rehabilitation and correctional services.” Bill’s presentation centered on the FOUNDATIONS COURSE at William Head Institution in Victoria, the only program of its kind in the Correctional Services Canada prison system.

With success of the Intensive Journal program gaining traction, it has now been chosen for implementation at the new Therapeutic Recover Community (TRC) in Victoria. Under the auspices of the Our Place Society ofVictoria, the TRC has been created as a pioneering therapeutic community serving men on Provincial Probation, including those suffering from addiction, and/or chronic homelessness and unemployment.

Utilizing an innovative process of peer-support and staff engagement, the TRC is located in the repurposed and rehabilitated former Provincial Juvenile Detention Facility on Talcot Road. In a volunteer capacity, Bill will facilitate a similar 12 week program for these men in three hour writing workshops once per week.

If you would like to experience the power of the Intensive Journal Program consider joining his next two-day public session on October 11 – 12 at the Church of Truth in James Bay. The Intensive Journal program is an internationally recognized therapeutic writing method.

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